Hunter Lee Soik is an American creative director and techpreneur with an estimated net worth of $8 million. He was roped in a scandal through his romantic relationship with Anna Delvey, a Russian who posed as a German heiress to swindle associates, friends, hotels, and financial institutions of an estimated $275 thousand.
Delvey was arrested in 2017 and convicted in 2019 on eight counts ranging from theft of services to attempted grand larceny as she tried to fraudulently obtain a $22 million bank loan. Hunter was dragged into the spotlight of the crime after it was learned that he was the boyfriend through which Delvey gained access to those she defrauded.
He met and began dating Anna in 2014, who familiarized herself with the New York social circles. When they broke up in 2016, Soik moved to Dubai while Delvey remained in New York, where she perpetuated her fraud. Her story has inspired several creative works, including the 2022 Netflix series, Inventing Anna, which ignited the curiosity about Hunter and his connection to the crimes.
Soik is a Korean-American Creative Director and Techpreneur
Hunter Lee Soik is originally from Korea but was adopted by American parents when he was young. So, while he was born in Seoul, South Korea, he was raised in the United States of America. Soik was born on the 20th of November 1981 and is 42 years old at the moment.
After he was adopted by his American parents, he was raised in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, where he completed his high school education. Thereafter, he attempted to further his education at Brooks Institute, a private art school in Ventura, California. He pursued a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography and Electronic Communications at the institution but dropped out barely a year into it.
Years later, he attended MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics, where he studied Micromasters Supply Chain Management. He has had long years of experience in the business world, but at the moment, he works as the executive chairperson of Ensō Group, a company he founded in 2018.
What Happened to Hunter Lee Soik?
The Korean-American entrepreneur was caught-up in the Anna Delvey fraud after she was convicted of her crimes. For business reasons, Hunter left the United States of America for Dubai in 2016. For years, he quietly helped the government of Dubai to build what he has described as “deep-tech ecosystems”. This changed in early 2022 when it circulated that he was in a relationship with Anna Delvey, the convicted swindler.
To the best of our knowledge, the revelation that Soik dated Delvey hasn’t had any negative impact on his career and business, except for the widespread attention it has brought his way. Anna Sorokin, who went by Anna Delvey, is a Russian who moved with her parents to Germany when she was 16. Growing into an adult in Germany, she became fascinated with fashion and the glitzy world of socialites. To soothe her desire for the glamorous lifestyle she perceived, she pursued a career in that field and worked for Purple, a Paris-based fashion magazine that eventually brought her to the United States.
It was sometime in 2013 that the fashion magazine transferred Anna Delvey to New York, where she met Hunter. Through the entrepreneur who was well-known in showbiz circles, Anna befriended socialites and celebrities only to defraud them. Per reports, she paraded herself as a German heiress with a juicy trust fund to her name. She gained people’s trust with that and borrowed money she never repaid. She also frequented luxury hotels where she racked up bills and illegally obtained money from financial institutions with fake documents.
In all, it is estimated that Anna Delvey had swindled $275 thousand before the law caught up with her. She was arrested sometime in 2017, with several charges brought against her. Convicted of her crimes, she was sentenced to four to 12 years in prison. On the grounds of good behavior, she was released in February 2021. Anna’s fraud inspired Inventing Anna, which shed more light on her crime and referenced people connected to her, including Hunter Lee Soik.
How Inventing Anna Exposed Soik as Anna Delvey’s Boyfriend
A year after Anna was released from prison, precisely on the 11th of February 2022, Netflix released Inventing Anna, a drama television miniseries that facilitated the unveiling of Hunter Lee Soik’s connection to the convicted fraudster. The series follows a journalistic investigation of Anna Delvey in a bid to uncover how she won the trust of New York elites and made away with their money.
The Korean-American entrepreneur had not been linked to the fraudster all the while she was being trialed for her crimes. But then, the series made references to Anna Delvey’s former boyfriend. The series depicts the former lover of Anna as a tech-head who had a habit of misleading his investors. It also portrayed how the swindler gained access to the New York elites’ social circles through him.
The portrayal of Delvey’s former boyfriend had a widespread reaction as people started speculating on who it could be. Bent on unveiling the identity of the ex-lover, viewers began deliberating on hints the series provided. Dwelling on the fact that the said lover had given a TedTalk and built an app for dreams, Hunter Lee Soik emerged at the top of the list of people believed to be the former boyfriend refer to in Inventing Anna.
Hunter Lee Soik began trending online as the possible ex-boyfriend who helped the fake German heiress gain access to those she defrauded. Anna added to the buzz as she offered online to disclose the identity of the ex-boyfriend to the highest bidder, setting the bid to begin at $10,000. When a 2014 Instagram post of Anna tagged to Hunter emerged, it became apparent he is the former boyfriend. Several reliable sources have also confirmed this, but the tech entrepreneur is yet to say anything about it.
Is Hunter Lee Soik Still Anna Sorokin’s Boyfriend?
The Korean-American entrepreneur and convicted fraudster are no longer in a relationship. They dated for only two years and parted ways sometime in 2016. We gathered that they met each other in New York sometime in 2014 and began dating shortly after. When their relationship began, Hunter Lee Soik had invented his dream app and was enjoying all the attention that came with that. Anna Delvey, on the other hand, was an employee of Purple magazine, which brought her to the United States in the first place.
The recognition Hunter was receiving from his app, and the fact that he had worked with several notable figures in showbiz, gave him access to the elites of New York. And as Anna was his girlfriend at that point, she also had access to these elites, which made it possible for her to carry out her crimes.
For reasons that are not known to the public, Soike and Delvey broke up in 2016. Around the same time, Hunter moved to the United Arab Emirates while Anna remained in New York and kept mingling with socialites and celebrities. She did what she did, and the law caught up with her. While this has rubbed off on Hunter and earned him unsolicited attention from the public, nothing indicates he was involved in Anna Delvey’s crimes.
Even though police investigations showed that Delvey had started perpetuating her fraud while they were together, there is no shred of evidence that shows Hunter encouraged or participated in her scam. He was neither questioned nor arrested for the fraud as all he did was introduce his girlfriend to the elites of New York; perhaps, he is also a victim of the fraud.
What is Hunter Lee Soik’s Net Worth Now?
Hunter Lee Soik’s net worth is currently estimated at a massive $8 million. In the wake of the crimes his former girlfriend committed, people became curious about Hunter’s wealth in a bid to uncover if he profited from the crime. This is probably the only negative impact Anna Delvey’s fraudulent activities have had on him.
People now question the source of his fortune, believing that he might have cashed out of it in some way. Some has gone as far as speculating that the fraud was why he left the United State and is yet to return.
Well, none of those speculations has substance. Investigations never linked him to the crime, and he has a verifiable track record of how he accumulated his wealth. While it is hard to tell what he was worth before the fraud that gained him nationwide attention, it is believed that he was a millionaire before he met and subsequently became Anna Delvey’s boyfriend. Below is a breakdown of how he accumulated his wealth, currently valued at $8 million.
He Made Millions from His Career in Showbiz
The showbiz industry was the earliest source of Hunter Lee Soik’s wealth. He began his career in the field as a photographer, model, and actor. He worked with various notable brands at this stage and even pulled off a television advert for coca cola.
As the year progressed, he gained enough experience in the business that he began working as a production assistant for production companies, including the likes of Walt Disney, CBS, Sony Entertainment, and Paramount Pictures. As a production assistant, he was involved in the making of well-known projects like CSI: Miami, The Italian Job, S.W.A.T., Freaky Friday, and Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle.
His career progressed in the years that followed as he became a creative director. This afforded him the opportunity to create campaigns for brands like Prada, Balenciaga, and Burberry. He would later work with LIPMAN, an advertising firm that had his work with more high-profile clients. When he left LIPMAN in 2018, he became an indie creative director and went on to produce multiple magazine covers for Vogue. He also worked with other famous brands like Mulberry, Bottega Veneta, and many more, creating and producing campaign ads for them.
Being an enterprising fellow, he founded at least two creative consulting companies through which he worked with first-rate celebrities like Jay Z, Kanye West, and Stella McCartney. Through his first creative company called The Law of Few, he worked as the graphics director of films like Operation Homecoming: Writing The War Time Experience. Having recorded many successes with The Law of Few, Hunter Lee Soik sold the company in 2007 only to found another called Wardenclyffe in late 2009.
In view of all of these, it is clear that Soik made huge money from the time he solely worked in showbiz. His career in the industry and the wealth he accumulated thereof laid the foundation for him to pursue other interests, which only made him wealthier.
He Has Also Made Good Money from Various Technology-Related Endeavors
With years of working in the showbiz industry, Hunter Lee Soik picked up an interest in technology and went to MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics, where studied Micromasters and Supply Chain Management. Since then, he has pursued technology-related business interests, which have augmented his wealth.
His fascination with technology dates back to January 2013, when he invented the Shadow app. Roughly three years later, he left the United States for the United Arab Emirates, where he became a founding member of Dubai Future Accelerators launched by the Crown Prince of Dubai, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
Hunter was involved in several developmental projects in Dubai. At some point, he was the Head of Innovation and Futures at Dubai Airport Freezone Authority (DAFZA), a position he held for over two years. Moving on, he served as a member of the board of directors of Trade X. What he made through all of these is best known to him, but it is clear that it amounts to millions of dollars.
Where is Hunter Lee Soik Now?
The Korean-American creative director and tech entrepreneur is currently based in Hong Kong. While he has always been a private person, he now takes great care to protect himself from the prying eyes of the public, thanks to the Anna Delvey scam and the Netflix series that made people connect him to the crime. It is said that he has rejected several offers for interviews since then and has even set his social media accounts to private. Because of this, it is a tad difficult to keep up with Hunter or tell what he has been up to,
However, reliable sources have disclosed that he has since left Dubai for Hong Kong. According to these sources, he left the United Arab Emirates in 2018 and has been living in Hong Kong since then. His Linkedin profile agrees with this, as it stipulates that he founded a company based in Hong Kong that same year. Hunter founded the company called Enso Group in June 2018 and has been serving as its executive chairperson since then.
Based on what he shared on Linkedin, the company based in Hong Kong is a “family office and venture studio” establishment that focuses on investing and supporting frontier technology.
